A Life of Honor
by Musicienne
Summary: The children of rogues, Brindlepaw and her sister Briarpaw are scorned by nearly all of ShadowClan. All Brindlepaw wants is to be accepted by the Clan she loves. But when she and her sister are kidnapped by their father and his band of followers she begins to see things in a whole other light. In the end, is Clan life for her? Will she choose a life of honor?
1. Allegiances

**Allegiances**

**ShadowClan**

**Leader:**

Cedarstar: dark gray tabby she-cat with amber eyes

**Deputy:**

Smokepelt: large, long haired black and silver tom with yellow eyes

**Medicine Cat:**

Hazelflower: light brown tabby she-cat with green eyes

_Apprentice, _Mottlepaw

**Warriors:**

Stormwhisker: dark grey tom

Rainpelt: flecked light gray she-cat

Spiderstep: long haired black tom

_Apprentice, _Nightpaw

Oakclaw: dark brown tabby tom

_Apprentice,_ Ashpaw

Reedstorm: golden brown tabby tom

_Apprentice,_ Eaglepaw

Sparrowflower: reddish brown she-cat

_Apprentcice, _Briarpaw

Sedgefoot: long haired dark brown she-cat with yellow eyes

_Apprentice, _Brindlepaw

Morningfur: cream furred she-cat

Wrenheart: small brown tabby she-cat with a white chest and legs

Kitefang: reddish-brown tabby tom

Blizzardfang: white she-cat with grey tabby patches and amber eyes

Adderstripe: brown tabby tom

**Apprentices:**

Mottlepaw: large white tom with black spots and tail

Ashpaw: pale grey tabby she-cat with yellow eyes

Briarpaw: thick furred dark brown she-cat with a lighter underbelly and tabby markings on her face and legs

Brindlepaw: thick furred tortoiseshell and white tabby she-cat

Eaglepaw: brown tabby tom with amber eyes

Nightpaw: thick furred black tom with amber eyes

**Queens and Kits:**

Fallowtail: light brown tabby she-cat with green eyes,

mother of Kitefang's kits Lizardkit (mottled brown tabby tom), and Poppykit (reddish-brown tabby she-cat)

**Elders:**

Cloudpelt: large white tom with yellow eyes

Willowflower: long haired grey she-cat

Lionpelt: golden tabby she-cat with green eyes

**Cats Outside the Clans:**

Flint: dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes

Peli: long haired grey-brown she-cat with green eyes

Blaze: dark ginger she-cat with blue eyes

Elina: grey and white she-cat with amber eyes

Streak: brown tabby tom with white paws and yellow eyes

Mink: brown tom with yellow eyes

Ripple: dark grey tabby tom with green eyes

Meno: large blue-grey tom with green eyes

Java: cream tabby she-cat with a white chest and paws and amber eyes

Tila: long haired tortoiseshell and white she-cat


	2. Prologue

"Great StarClan..."

The she-cat turned her head slightly, in equal parts confusion and awe. Despite her numerous wounds her tail swished freely behind her and her amber eyes glowed in what little moonlight made it through the thick branches of pine trees. Most of the pain from her cuts had faded to dull throbs, mostly now forgotten about due to the scene before her.

"Cedarstar?"

It took a moment for the tabby she-cat to respond. Her head slowly raised from the bush she was staring in to meet the yellow eyes of her trusted deputy. With the sparse light and his mainly black pelt he seemed almost ethereal as he stood there. She met his eyes and saw the confusion and concern in the yellow orbs. He was probably as lost for words as she was. As the grey tabby took a moment to gather her thoughts her gaze turned back towards the small bush and its occupants.

"What do we do?" asked her deputy. The black and silver tom shuffled nervously as he looked from his leader back to the nest.

Two small kits, several days old by the looks of it.

They were situated in a hastily made nest of grass and squealing for a mother that was not there. The blind and deaf kits scrabbled and clamored over one another trying to go who knows where. Probably trying to find someone to feed them.

Unfortunately their mother had been among the casualties of the battle that had taken place earlier. Her body had been found along with one other. Cedarstar and her deputy still bore the marks of that earlier encounter. A short while ago a fairly large group of rogues had settled into her territory and began to hunt for themselves. Naturally as a leader it was her job to safeguard her Clan's territory and chase out the band of rogues. They already had enough mouths to feed without adding another group in the picture. Plus, it was green-leaf and if they depleted the stores of prey now they would all starve come leaf-bare. There was land elsewhere for those rogues to hunt.

In the beginning she had tried to be civil about it. She had sent a patrol consisting of all her most non-intimidating warriors to talk with whoever was in charge. To try and convince them to leave peacefully without having to resort to violence. Her offer was brutally declined however as her warriors came back, claiming that they had been chased away by the rogues! A few of them had even come back with shallow cuts from the skirmish.

The thought of those mange-ridden rogues harming her warriors set the she-cat's blood boiling. It seemed as if the time for being civil was over. She had given them a chance, now they had to pay the full price. She would teach them to harm her Clanmates. Cedarstar personally lead the patrol deep into Clan territory. They were silent with determination as they padded to meet the intruders face to face. They had left at moonrise, the night helping to conceal their forms as they took up defensive positions.

At her call everyone burst from their vantage points. Yowls broke out and filled the night air as the two groups clashed. The rogues were surprisingly good when it came to combat. The two groups were evenly matched in terms of size. She hadn't wanted to bring too many warriors with her, for fear of leaving the Camp defenseless. Cedarstar was momentarily drawn from her thoughts as one of the kits tumbled out of them nest. Absently the grey tabby she-cat nudged it back into the nest with its littermate. As a she-cat who had raised kits of her own her heart ached for them.

After they had managed to drive the rogues out her warriors had retreated home to nurse their wounds. As was customary for leaders to be the last to leave the battlefield she checked to make sure that everyone had left, only to find her deputy huddled over the small bush she now presided over. These kits deserved a warm and safe nest with their mother, yet here they were stuck out in the open just waiting for some stupid dog or some other type of predator to come and pick them off.

That was all about to change.

"We're going to bring them with us of course." she said. "We'd better hurry up too. We don't know how long these kits have been out here. We'll see if one of the queens can nurse them." Opening her jaws she scooped up one of the kits. It felt as if she was carrying a piece of prey. As she looked up she caught the look of surprise on her deputy's face.

"We're... going to raise them in the Clan?" he asked.

Setting the kit down beneath her forepaws she licked vigorously at its fur. "Yes. I see no other alternative. Their birth mother is dead and the rouges have fled. To do otherwise and leave them here to die would be to break the Warrior Code."

She plucked the other kit from the bush and placed it at her deputy's paws. He looked nervously at the kit for a moment. "What will you tell the Clan?" He ventured.

"The truth." She said simply. _"Well, most of it."_ she thought.

Rising to her paws she picked up the kit before her. She shot her deputy a look that told him to do the same. As soon as he was ready she flicked her tail as a signal for them to start heading home.


	3. Chapter 1

"_Brindlekit!" _

The small she-cat flicked her ear as she ignored her mother's call. What she was doing was far more important after all. Her green eyes narrowed as she inched closer and closer to her prize. Her claws remained sheathed as soft pine needles cushioned her paw steps. Her target was a slowly swishing tail. It belonged to one of the warriors near the fresh-kill pile. They were busy talking with another warrior so they failed to see Brindlekit sneak up behind them.

"_Brindlekit!"_

She sighed as she made another paw step and stopped. _"What does she want?"_ She wondered.

Tucking her body in she bunched her muscles and leaped. She landed squarely on her target. The moving tail tip of one of the Clan's warriors. She had kept her claws sheathed but cat who had been her target still whipped around in surprise. She looked up and met the blue eyes of Morningfur. She didn't seem angry at the fact that her tail had served at a target. Rather, she seemed amused.

"I think I hear your mother calling Brindlekit. You'd better go to her. We can play later." The warrior purred and nudged her in the other direction.

"Don't lead her on Morningfur."

Brindlekit immediately recognized the gruff voice of Oakclaw. "We all know Blizzardfang isn't her mother, it's obvious. The sooner she learns that the better. Plus we'll be busy later." Morningfur exhaled heavily as she turned to face her Clanmate. "Oakclaw!"

The cream furred she-cat started to scold the dark tabby warrior. Saying how could he say those things to a kit. Brindlekit didn't really pay attention. Blizzardfang had told her to ignore comments like that, but the advice did little to take the sting away. Her tail drooped as she padded back to the nursery. Blizzardfang was the only queen currently staying there so there was a lot of space to go around.

Blizzardfang's head shot up as soon as Brindlekit took her place in the nest, in between Ashkit and Briarkit. "Where were you? I had been calling for you?" She simply shook her head as she laid down. Blizzardfang began to groom her fur after that. The she-cat's green eyes focused on Ashkit who was asleep to her left. Ashkit was Blizzardfang's true daughter. There was an easy resemblance between the two. Blizzardfang was white with grey tabby patches. Ashkit was a pale grey tabby all over, plus she shared her mother's amber eyes.

She and Briarkit just looked out of place next to their adopted mother's belly. In her mind she stuck out most of all. Her tortoiseshell fur was thick; the black in her pelt faintly stripping over the orange like tabby markings. Her legs and belly were mostly white save for a few patches of color. Briarkit had things a little easier in her mind.

Her sister was a bit bigger than she was, though not by much. Her pelt was a dark brown, like Oakclaw's was, and her belly was lighter. She too had tabby markings, however hers were more bold and they were only on her face and legs. Even next to her own true sister Brindlekit felt out of place! Briarkit at least blended in with some of the other cats in ShadowClan. She stuck out like a sore thumb. Heck, their eye colors didn't even match! Hers were green while Briarkit's were amber. Sometimes Brindlekit was jealous of her littermate. The comments brushed over her like water on a RiverClan cat. With her they stuck with her like a thorn in her paw, still hurting even after its gone.

Blizzardfang noticed her silence and stopped licking. "What's wrong Brindlekit?"

She simply shook her head in response. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Did someone say something again?" her voice had taken a hard edge to it. No one in the clan dared to tell Blizzardfang that she wasn't Brindlekit and Briarkit's mother to her face. She always said there was a were two kinds of mothers. The first kind were just those, mothers. Any she-cat could have kits. The second kinds of mothers were the true ones. They were the ones that gave their kits the love and attention they needed, that raised them right.

Brindlekit was glad that she and Briarkit had Blizzardfang to take care of them. Out of all the she-cats in the Clan, she was the best. Shifting, Brindlekit turned away from her mother and curled up, hoping to escape the line of questioning.

"I'm tired. Can we talk about this later?" she asked.

She heard and felt as Blizzardfang sighed. "Alright. We'll talk about it later." With that Brindlekit nodded off to sleep.

The next morning Brindlekit woke feeling a bit better. Yesterday's incident had been all but forgotten. As they waited for their mother to return the three kits played. Ashkit had found a piece of moss and they started to bat it around.

Brindlekit hooked the piece of moss with a claw and flung it towards Briarkit who leaped in the air and grabbed it. Tail high in the air, the dark she-cat looked between her littermates to decide who to toss it to. Finally she tossed it to Ashkit. With her tail lashing Brindlekit ran over and pounced on the piece of moss and then picked it up between her jaws.

"No fair Brindlekit!" she squeaked. "Give it back!"

"Come and get it!" she said, her voice muffled by the moss.

Brindlekit ran as Ashkit chased after her. They circled around Briarkit who also joined the chase and soon the three of them were racing around camp. They stopped near the elders den, their little hearts racing. They got up and padded over when they saw their mother turn away from the fresh-kill pile, three mice dangling from her jaws by their tails.

"Here you are kits."

She set the prey down in front of the kits while she sat down in front of them. "Aren't you gonna eat mom?" Ashkit asked.

"I'm going to eat later. First I have to talk to you three about something." she said.

"What is it?" Ashkit answered.

"Your apprenticeships." she began. Now she had the attention of all three kits. "Now you three are getting older and soon it will be time for you to start your training as warriors. You'll be apprentices and you'll be very busy. Do you promise to train hard for me and for the Clan?"

Her question was met with yeses from each of the kits. They scarfed down the rest of their food and bombarded her with all sorts of questions. "Whoa, whoa slow down little ones I'll answer your questions."

"Why don't some of the other cats like us mom? Me and Briarkit didn't do anything bad." Brindlekit asked. She cast a sideways glance, not wanting to meet the eyes of her family. "It's not our fault our real mom abandoned us..." she whispered.

Blizzardfang's eyes flashed with hurt as she looked down at her daughter. "Oh Brindlekit... They... the other cats just don't understand. They think that just because you two weren't born in the Clan that somehow you aren't loyal, or that you don't love the Clan as much as the rest of us."

"They're crazier than foxes in a fit if you ask me. You two are just as much a part of this Clan as any other cat." Ashkit pipped in.

"I'm gonna prove them wrong..." Brindlekit whispered.

"What did you say Brindlekit?" Her mother asked.

"I said that I'm going to prove them wrong. I'm going to be the best warrior ShadowClan's ever seen!"

"Me too!" Joined Briarkit.

"All three of us are going to be the best!" Ashkit finished.

Brindlekit looked up to see a bemused look on her mother's face. She wrapped her tail around her legs before she spoke. "I know all of you are going to make me very proud."


End file.
